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How compressed are HDTV satellite channels?
I purchased a Bell ExpressVu 3120 system back in the summer, and have been watching it on my Sony 43" 43HT20 set. I've been somewhat disappointed with the picture quality. Depending on the channel, artifacts are noticable (especially during sports like football) and it seems like at least some of the channels broadcast at half the SD vertical resolution (about 240 lines). This is most noticable on animated series, like South Park, where all the edges are very jaggy. My signal strength is around 83-84%, which should be fine for Canadian satellite receiving.
The kicker is that when I connected my newly-purchased 50' RG-6 cable to my CATV line and hooked it directly to my TV, the picture quality of the analog channels were outstanding when compared to satellite. As an added test, I hooked up my old and worn 50' RG-59 cable to the satellite and found absolutely no difference in picture quality. Geez, I'm surprised satellite companies push RG-6 so much, when in reality it's the cable companies that should get off the ball and push these cables! Currently, I've decided to stay with satellite because of the time-shifting bonus I get with the local channels. However, things might change now that my initial 5-month promotion is at an end...
If I do stick with satellite, I'll be thinking of getting an HDTV receiver down the line (maybe by next spring if Bell releases an HD-PVR). However, I'm questioning the potential quality (or lack thereof) for HDTV satellite broadcasts. Are they broadcast in full resolution? Are there compression artifacts present? I'd like to hear from satellite owners beyond ExpressVu to see if the general consensus is a mixed bag. Also, I'm curious about how digital cable HDTV stands up against satellite.
If the quality isn't all that great, then I may spend my money on something of better value (ExpressVu's HDTV PVRs will probably be in the $1500-2000 CDN range). Maybe I'll stick with closed-circuit sources like DVD/HD-VHS/HD-DVD.
My thoughts,
Ryan
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